NY Yankees and Philadelphia Flyers Ban Kate Smith’s ‘God Bless America’, Place Black Cover Over Statue, Due To Racist Songs Recorded In 1931

Up until recently, the New York Yankees played Kate Smith’s version of “God Bless America” at every game during the seventh inning stretch, a tradition that dates back to 9/11. Last month, however, the team learned that Smith had recorded songs which contained racist lyrics in the 1930s.

One of Smith’s greatest hits was a song entitled “That’s Why Darkies Were Born,” which was recorded in 1931. The song begins with, “Someone had to pick the cotton, Someone had to pick the corn, Someone had to slave and be able to sing, That’s why darkies were born.”

The Philadelphia Flyers have followed suit. They have even covered up a Kate Smith statue which was installed at the stadium in 1987.

The team issued a statement on Friday which said:

We have recently become aware that several songs performed by Kate Smith contain offensive lyrics that do not reflect our values as an organization. As we continue to look into this serious matter, we are removing Kate Smith’s recording of ‘God Bless America’ from our library and covering up the statue that stands outside of our arena.

Oy vey.

PJ Media’s Jim Treacher has a rather amusing view on this latest discovery of racism. He writes:

If Kate Smith sang that racist song, then it means every other song she sang is racist. That’s how it works. And unless you’re a racist, you must agree that anything that can be considered racist by 2019 standards should be erased from history. We can’t keep ourselves from being triggered by this 90-year-old hate crime, but we can protect future generations.

This is a good first step, but there’s much more we can do to blot out the memory of this segregationist songstress. Educate yourself!

He then outlines four ways you can protect yourself from being labeled a racist. It can be viewed here.